Here’s a comprehensive collection of reviews and recaps for 24: Live Another Day Episode 8. We strive to collect as many reviews as possible here – both positive and negative opinions from a wide range of sources. This post will continue to be updated throughout the week as more reviews come in.
IGN (9.2/10): “The most captivating moments were, of course, those at the end as Heller accepts his fate while Margot and her son find themselves realizing their twisted dreams. Margot’s insistence that she pull the trigger was a perfect note, as they understood that this was much more than their immediate goal—it was history.”
The A.V. Club (A-): “Ultimately, this hour was all about Heller giving himself up for the greater good. From yelling at Jack to saying goodbye to Audrey to making that final stoic walk across the stadium field, William Devane got a chance to remind us what he can do, and he made the most of it.”
TVLine: “Along the way, during this week’s hour, Devane was frickin’ on fire, whether bellowing his stance on this ultimate sacrifice, saying a discreet farewell to daughter Audrey (a moment that could have been hokey but instead rang sweet) or letting fly with Greek chorus-type zingers. (The one about Jack’s skills as a surgeon? Awesome.) If this was in fact the last we’ll see of Devane — I don’t know how it’s not, but: 24! — I applaud his eight-episode term as POTUS. It was nice to not have a sneaky, snaky commander-in-chief for the show’s unexpected revival, but rather one more in the tradition of David Palmer.”
HitFix: “It’s a bigger deal because it’s the President of the United States, and because William Devane(*) is one of the best actors the show has had in that particular gig (his stealth farewell to Audrey was a really nice scene), but there’s no way of escaping the notion of “24” going down some very familiar paths.”
TV Fanatic: “In the end, this may have been one of the best episodes of the season so far. I know I’ll certainly never forget President Heller’s last stand.”
BuddyTV: “Back at the embassy, Heller has a tender moment with his daughter Audrey while they look over some old pictures of the two of them with Heller’s wife/Audrey’s mom. The two of them absolutely nail that scene — William Devane has really brought it home with his portrayl of Heller this season. Great to have him back on the show.”
Zap2It: “While it clearly looks like Heller is dead as the episode closes, there is one thing about it that seems a bit suspicious. More often than not, when someone important dies on “24” they are given a send off via a silent ticking clock at the end of the episode. It’s happened 11 times throughout the series, most often due to tragic deaths. Heller didn’t get that, though. Instead Margot was the last image seen in the episode before the standing ticking clock.”
TV.com: “Meanwhile, Live Another Day finally found something for Kim Raver to do, and she made her scenes with both Devane and Tate Donovan’s Mark some of the best stuff we’ve seen all season.”
CarterMatt (A-): “The strange thing to us about this episode was that it was fantastic in its simplicity. You could see the end coming, and the drama came in trying to figure out if there was a way to stop the inevitability. Often on TV, there is. Just not this time, and that alone is what made this “24″ so tremendous and worthy of its milestone.”
Den of Geek: “I thought the great William Devane was hit or miss at times during this season, but tonight he turned in a wonderful performance to say goodbye to an important character in 24 history.”
Vulture: “Seeing as this was the last big scene William Devane and Kiefer Sutherland would have together, both actors clearly relished the dramatic sparring. Devane does Steiger-like rages that are kind of touching, and Sutherland knows when to stand still and that silence can speak volumes. The scene was given a little extra dramatic force from Sean Callery’s fine score. Too bad director Jon Cassar felt compelled to break up the scene with little edits. I counted at least four cuts during two lines of Heller’s.”
Bloomberg View: “Despite my affection for both the original “24” and its current instantiation — “24: Live Another Day” — my commentaries are usually somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Not this time. I want to be serious, because I want to be clear: Last night’s episode, covering the period between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., not only was the best by far of the season — it was also as brisk, exciting and well-executed an hour of network television as a thriller fan is likely to find.”
FOX News: “Ultimately, it was a strong episode and a bold choice by the writers to allow Heller to sacrifice himself for the greater good. While plenty of characters have been killed off this season, this is the first of the series’ original characters to meet their maker and the show didn’t treat it lightly. Audrey is distraught, as is Mark, and before long an entire country will be grieving the loss of their leader. Only Margot seems to have found peace, but she shouldn’t get too comfortable. Jack Bauer will never let her get away.”
TV Equals: “Of course, it helps to play reruns when you have terrific actors to play the parts. As disappointed as I was to see William Devane go (he’s one of the best actors on the show), his performance throughout the season was superb. He was particularly terrific in his send-off episode. His moment during his goodbye scene with his daughter is an emotional high that 24 can rarely get to without the superlative work of someone like Devane. Though his death will undoubtedly turn loose Jack, President Heller is a giant character to leave off the final third of the season.”
Paste Magazine: “Where last week’s episode Live Another Day focused on action, this week’s was centered around the emotional core of the show. There are questions that drive every plot of 24. What can one person do to save the lives of many? How does a leader respond to a dire situation? Heller’s story comes to an end in this episode, but it’s been a compelling one. ”
Screen Crush: “Since ’24′ characters not named Jack or Chloe tend to have pretty short lifespans, it’s not surprising that President Heller didn’t make it out of this hour alive. However, as the rare ’24′ supporting character who has lived to appear in several seasons, it was still a huge bummer to see him finally meet his maker. The show’s universe is now missing a big William Devane-shaped piece in the middle of it.”
Schmoes Know: “Devane shows off every last bit of enegry he has in this episode and steals the show. The conversation he has with Jack as he informs him on what he must do was so powerful yet heartbreaking at the same time. I really enjoyed Devane as Heller and he will be greatly missed.”
Starpulse: “Even the death of the President is pretty much from the playbook, because 24 has made a habit of killing off at least one major player every season, and as we mentioned previously, Heller as President was both a psuedo-dead man walking plot-wise and not a very compelling character from a show perspective. William Devane got his best material in his final two episodes, but even Heller’s (sort of) farewell scene with Audrey was a bit of a letdown.”
CNS News: “Heller’s sacrifice is a fusion of two of the most memorable deaths in 24 history. First, CTU head George Mason in season two, dying from radiation poisoning, flew a nuclear bomb into the Mojave Desert, saving Los Angeles. Second, the heartbreaking episode in the third season where Jack is forced to personally execute the head of CTU, Ryan Chappelle, and deliver his body to a terrorist. Both were monumental sacrifices. Both were presented as a slow trudge toward a grim conclusion. To those that malign 24’s realism on the grounds Jack Bauer always saves the day, I’d submit this episode as the ultimate rebuttal.”
NY Daily News: “Heller, at least, goes out without having been imprisoned for treason (Charles Logan), forced to resign in disgrace (Allison Taylor), shot and killed by a sniper (David Palmer), permanently injured in a plane crash (John Keeler) or punted out of office after losing an election as an incumbent (Noah Daniels). So despite his disloyalty to Jack, memory lapses stemming from his Alzheimer’s and endangering London with his misguided drone policy, Heller deserves a place on “24’s” Mount Rushmore — by default.”
Nerdcore Movement: “The only problem is Jack Bauer is pissed off and you won’t like Jack when he’s angry. Something tells me we’re about to witness Jack’s burning need for revenge big time in the next hour of ’24′.”
Blogcritics: “This episode is simply the best of this season, and one of the most memorable in 24 history (and that is quite an accomplishment). The series seems reinvigorated now, and it could no doubt be brought back again next year; however, if the big shots at FOX don’t know it yet, they have a shining star in Strahovski. If she doesn’t get her own show, it will be a most serious mistake. Here’s my vote for 24: Agent Kate Morgan to debut next season because Strahovski not only deserves it but we fans do too!”
The Escapist: “Last night’s episode was humdinger. Truths were revealed all over the place, and a major character, Game of Thrones-style, was killed in cold blood. Jack was still busting his ass for the side of good, but the terrorists seem to have the upper hand, and the President is forced to make some very difficult choices. This season, which started off a little contrived and “eh” for me, is really starting to pick up, and tonight’s episode was a major ascension point.”
Boston.com: “Certainly the most heroic sacrifice by a fictional United States president we’ve ever seen, right? A squeeze of a joystick trigger, a drone missile and an awful CGI explosion later, and it’s time for the National Cathedral to start sweeping the floors and shining the pews. The curse of “24” presidents has claimed another one. The poor chief executives in this show, man. There have only been four presidents killed in the history of the United States; it seems like “24” goes through four a season.”
High-Def Digest: “In this highly impressive episode (which was the show’s 200th), the writers only made one big mistake: They didn’t give Heller the “silent clock” at the end of he episode, which – historically – the series has done to mark the passing of any significant important character. That’s a shame, since both the character and the actor deserved it. (I guess there’s always home video to rectify that error.) Otherwise, this was, once again, another week of ’24′ at its best. Next week, Jack Bauer will begin to take his revenge. Hang on!”
CBS Detroit: “The music was ominous. The tone of the entire show was rather somber and dark. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan. I know it’s a show. I know its fiction. I know it’s fantastical. But to allow a terrorist to point a missile at an American President and blow him away was a little tough to swallow. Love you 24. Thanks for the years of entertainment. But this time, you went a little too far over the time. Like the time Kim was kidnapped by the mountain lion.”
New York Observer: “Yes. They went there. The “24″ producers murdered the American President. In the very last minute of the episode, we see Heller standing alone in the middle of a stadium (cricket, I presume) while Margot Al-Harazi launches a missile right at his defenseless person. She hits her target and the whole stadium goes up in smoke. Apologies to those poor, poor cricket players who really might as well learn to play baseball now that their field’s been demolished.”
Crave Online: “In the aftermath of Heller’s death, Margot enjoys a moment of smug satisfaction. And… no silent clock for Heller? That’s screwed up, “24.” The writers clearly remember the previous seasons, judging by the some very familiar plot twists have played out. But when a major heroic character dies, they’re supposed to get a silent clock at the end of the hour. It’s tradition, damn it!”
She Knows: “That didn’t really happen, did it? We didn’t actually see the president offer himself up as a sacrifice and Margot actually kill him with a missile, did we? I supposed anything is possible on 24: Live Another Day.”
Geek Binge (9.5/10): “My heart and gut wrenched as I watched Margot, for the first time, take control of the drone herself – finally the woman is getting some dirt and blood on her hands. She locked on target, pulled the trigger, and BAM, Heller went down in an explosion of dirt and astro-turph. It was poetic, brutal, and incredibly depressing. Here’s hoping the rules of Anime will suddenly apply to an American TV Action Drama, and even though we saw him explode, Heller will return, bigger and badder than ever, after two episodes of everyone thinking he died. …Something tells me that hope might be in vain.”
Kotaku: “HOLY MOTHER OF HELL DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN? DID JACK BAUER REALLY JUST WATCH THE PRESIDENT GET KILLED BY A DRONE? Look, I could go on and on about last night’s fantastic episode of 24—and it was fantastic, packed with tension until the very last second—but I think it’s important we take a second to remember President James Heller, the man who just got blown to little pieces on national TV.”
Boob Tube Dude: “At this point, it’s worth praising the prosaic performance of William Devane as President Heller. I’ll confess I wasn’t always so fond of his soap opera-esque line readings. But in his final hours, Heller came across as a hopeless straight shooter in the wolf’s den, a man incapable of lying to anyone. Utterly free of artifice, Heller cut a different cloth from Heller, Logan, or the other less memorable Presidents in the show’s history.”
Pop-Break: “Speaking of the president, William Devane turns in an emotional performance that really was a nice save for his character. For weeks the Heller character has been this “ho-hum” commander-in-chief operating like an impending drone strike on London is no biggie. This episode allows Devane get out of neutral and really show some grit and fire. Yet, it wasn’t all fire and fury, there were some tender scenes that really drove home the potential that we may never see this character again. In particular, the one where he reminisces with his daughter Audrey (Kim Raver). This was probably the best use of the Audrey character all series. Also, it’d be a crime not to mention Tate Donovan, who also turned in one of his better performances of the series. His Chief of Staff is a duplicitous character, but one who still has a moral compass and tonight it was pointed in the right direction.”
Better With Popcorn (9.5/10): “Either way, it’s exciting, and it created another exhilarating hour of television on what’s turned out to be a massive success for the long-running series. To feel the way I did watching that last hour isn’t something I thought I would ever feel again with this show. That’s more than I could have ever asked for our of 24: Live Another Day.”
Gotta Watch It!: “If this was indeed Heller’s last hour, it was also his finest. So long, William Devane. Your presence on 24 was always a welcome one.”
The Guardian: “Well, goodbye President Heller. We hardly knew ye. In retrospect, we knew the end was coming as soon as your Alzheimer’s started getting the better of you, or at least since Kiefer Sutherland tweeted that slightly too reverential photo of you in Wembley Stadium the other month. We’ll have to assume that Heller really is dead – he didn’t get a silent clock, but there’s no realistic way he could have survived a drone attack that blew up the entire football pitch he was standing on – in which case he’s the first serving president to be assassinated in 24’s history. Quite the honour.”
Digital Spy: “24 turned 200 in supreme style this week. Returning to the series he co-created with Joel Surnow, writer Robert Cochran crafts an explosive and emotional farewell to a much-loved character – and in what is Live Another Day’s strongest installment yet, the departing William Devane delivers a knock-out performance.”
Other Recaps
Note: these are mostly just straight-up recaps with little or no critical analysis.
Video Reviews and recaps
Post Show Recaps:
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2 Guys Talking 24, Hour 8:
